Assessment the safety performance of nuclear power plants using Global Safety Index (GSI)

Abstract

The safety performance of the nuclear power plant is a very important factor enhancing the nuclear energy option. It is vague to evaluate the nuclear power plant performance but it can be measured through measuring the safety performance of the plant. In this work, the safety of nuclear power plants is assessed by developing a “Global Safety Index” (GSI). The GSI is developed by introducing three indicators: probability of accident occurrence, performance of safety system in case of an accident occurrence (during an accident), and the consequences of the accident. The GSI is developed by tracking the performance of the safety system during a design basis accident such as loss of coolant accident (LOCA). This is done by using the PCTran simulation code in simulation a PWR LOCA and introducing four indicators: the sensation time, the response time, and the recovery time together with Core Damage Frequency (CDF). Then Fuzzy Inference System is used for obtaining the GSI. The GSI is also evaluated for the advanced types for nuclear power plants, such as AP1000, and a comparison is made between the GSI evaluated for both conventional and advanced types.